By: Parker, et al. S.B. No. 36
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the homeland security activities of certain entities,
including the establishment and operations of the Homeland Security
Division in the Department of Public Safety.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 411.002(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas is
an agency of the state to enforce the laws protecting the public
safety and provide for the prevention and detection of crime. The
department is composed of the Texas Rangers, the Homeland Security
Division, the Texas Highway Patrol, the administrative division,
and other divisions that the commission considers necessary.
SECTION 2. Chapter 411, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter S to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER S. HOMELAND SECURITY DIVISION
Sec. 411.551. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Chief" means the chief of the division appointed
under Section 411.552.
(2) "Division" means the Homeland Security Division of
the department established under this subchapter.
(3) "Local government" means any municipality,
county, special-purpose district or authority, or other political
subdivision of this state.
(4) "State agency" means a board, commission, council,
committee, department, office, agency, or other governmental
entity in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of state
government. The term includes an institution of higher education
as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.
Sec. 411.552. HOMELAND SECURITY DIVISION; CHIEF. (a) The
Homeland Security Division is established in the department to lead
multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional, and public-private efforts to
enhance law enforcement initiatives and operations in support of
homeland security objectives in this state.
(b) The director shall appoint the chief with the consent of
the commission.
(c) The chief acts as the chief administrative officer of
the division and is under the supervision and direction of the
director, and to the extent the director determines, a deputy
director of the department.
Sec. 411.553. DEPUTY CHIEFS AND OTHER EMPLOYEES;
DELEGATION. (a) The chief may employ deputy chiefs and other
employees as necessary to perform the duties or exercise the powers
of the division or perform any duty or exercise any power of the
department assigned to the division.
(b) The chief may delegate any power or duty assigned to the
division or chief unless prohibited by statute or rule.
Sec. 411.554. BORDER SECURITY: PLANNING AND COORDINATION.
(a) The division shall, in collaboration with any other person who
by law performs similar duties:
(1) provide the strategic and operational planning for
border security operations of this state; and
(2) support the border security operations of this
state by coordinating the law enforcement efforts of federal and
state agencies, local governments, and private organizations and by
ensuring clarity and alignment on the law enforcement priorities
and responsibilities of each stakeholder.
(b) The division shall assist as necessary the department,
including each department region, with the department's tactical
planning of border security operations. The division shall produce
intelligence and similar reports as necessary to provide the
assistance required by this subsection.
Sec. 411.555. BORDER SECURITY: INTELLIGENCE. (a) The
division shall coordinate the collection, dissemination, and
analysis of intelligence for this state's border security
operations and shall operate intelligence centers dedicated to this
purpose.
(b) The division shall establish policies and procedures
relating to the collection and management of intelligence,
including establishing collection priorities and assigning the
management responsibilities, for state agencies, local
governments, and any private organizations participating in border
security operations.
(c) With respect to the border security operations of this
state, the division shall analyze and assess collected intelligence
to produce information bulletins and other similar reports
considered advisable.
(d) The division shall manage the program for the
installation and monitoring of cameras and surveillance equipment
along the Texas-Mexico border, known as Operation Drawbridge.
Sec. 411.556. HOMELAND SECURITY PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS.
(a) The division shall, in collaboration with any other person who
by law performs similar duties:
(1) regularly develop a comprehensive homeland
security strategic plan for this state;
(2) plan and facilitate homeland security exercises in
coordination with the Texas Division of Emergency Management and
other state agencies, federal agencies, local governments, and any
participating private organizations;
(3) develop operational and tactical plans for
significant law enforcement emergencies or contingencies,
including assisting each department region with developing plans
specific to the needs of that region;
(4) conduct assessments of:
(A) the risks and hazards posed to this state by
criminal actors and organizations; and
(B) the capabilities of state and local
stakeholders to respond to the occurrence of those risks and
hazards, including by coordinating the annual completion by state
agencies and local governments of the following federal
assessments:
(i) the Threat and Hazard Identification
and Risk Assessment; and
(ii) the Stakeholder Preparedness Review;
(5) establish programs for regular outreach to and
information sharing among public and private organizations
regarding threats by criminal actors and organizations, including:
(A) coordinating the Bomb-Making Materials
Awareness Program and similar programs; and
(B) ensuring private industry organizations are
aware of:
(i) criminal threats to critical
infrastructure, such as espionage and sabotage operations;
(ii) best practices for protecting critical
infrastructure from criminal actors and organizations; and
(iii) available law enforcement resources
to assist in protecting critical infrastructure from criminal
actors and organizations and responding to those threats; and
(6) assist state agencies and local governments in
complying with restrictions under federal law on commerce with
certain entities, including any entity:
(A) listed in Supplement No. 4 to 15 C.F.R. Part
744;
(B) identified as a Chinese military company by
the United States Secretary of Defense in accordance with Section
1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2021 (Pub. L. 116-283); or
(C) restricted under any similar sanction
program under federal law.
(b) The division shall develop any additional assessment
for risks and hazards posed by criminal actors and organizations
the division considers necessary and include in the strategic plan
required by Subsection (a)(1) recommendations to mitigate those
risks and hazards.
(c) The division may administer, or assist the department in
administering, an internship program for students and other
interested persons to participate in the operations of the
division, or the department, as appropriate.
Sec. 411.557. PLANNING FOR PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE. (a) The division shall coordinate multi-agency,
multi-jurisdictional, and public-private efforts to protect the
critical infrastructure in this state from criminal actors and
organizations. Within the 16 critical infrastructure sectors
identified by National Security Memorandum on Critical
Infrastructure Security and Resilience (NSM-22) issued by the
president of the United States, the division shall prioritize the
division's efforts in ensuring the physical protection of critical
infrastructure in the following sectors:
(1) energy;
(2) communications;
(3) transportation systems; and
(4) water and wastewater systems.
(b) With respect to potential threats to the critical
infrastructure in this state, the division may analyze and assess
collected intelligence to produce information bulletins and other
similar reports considered advisable.
(c) The division shall develop a system to identify and
categorize critical infrastructure in this state for the purpose of
facilitating initiatives to protect the critical infrastructure
from criminal actors and organizations, including for facilitating
any risk assessment of critical infrastructure assets or systems in
this state and identifying any dependency or interdependency among
those assets or systems.
(d) The division shall conduct exercises to enhance
public-private coordination in protecting the critical
infrastructure of this state from criminal actors and
organizations.
(e) During any disaster, as that term is defined by Section
418.004, the division shall provide support to the state operations
center described by Section 418.041(e).
Sec. 411.558. INFRASTRUCTURE LIAISON OFFICER PROGRAM. (a)
The division shall operate a program to train volunteers from
public and private organizations to:
(1) collect or receive intelligence information
related to threats to critical infrastructure; and
(2) properly identify threats to critical
infrastructure and report those threats to the department.
(b) The division may set reasonable eligibility
requirements for the program.
Sec. 411.559. WORK GROUPS; STUDY OF TECHNOLOGIES. (a) The
division may establish and appoint members to one or more work
groups to:
(1) study any issue related to the division's duties or
the law enforcement initiatives or operations of this state; and
(2) advise or produce written reports on an issue
studied under Subdivision (1).
(b) A work group established under this section may be
composed of representatives from state and federal agencies, local
governments, and private organizations. The division may provide
administrative support for any work group established under this
section.
(c) The division shall, in collaboration with any person who
by law performs similar duties, establish or operate work groups to
study methods or technologies to enhance the border security
operations of this state and the security of the critical
infrastructure of this state, including any task force established
to survey the vulnerabilities of state government, local
governments, and critical infrastructure.
Sec. 411.560. RESEARCH. (a) The division shall annually
propose to the commission the research priorities and a research
agenda for the department.
(b) The division shall coordinate with institutions of
higher education, as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, to
enhance the research capabilities of the institutions and the
department by sharing information and aligning priorities.
(c) The division shall research new technologies to enhance
the law enforcement initiatives and operations conducted by this
state, including any border security operation conducted by a state
agency, local government, or private organization.
Sec. 411.561. COUNSEL AND BUDGETING. (a) In this section,
"homeland security activity" means any activity related to the
prevention or discovery of, response to, or recovery from:
(1) a terrorist attack;
(2) a hostile military or paramilitary action; or
(3) an extraordinary law enforcement emergency.
(b) The division shall, on request, provide subject matter
expertise and counsel to a state agency or local government
regarding the state's border security operations and critical
infrastructure protection initiatives, including related grant
programs, legislation, risk management assessments, and other
initiatives.
(c) The division shall confer with each state agency
involved in any homeland security activity before each legislative
session regarding the portion of the state agency's budget request
that finances the agency's homeland security activities. The
division shall coordinate with the state agencies to eliminate
unnecessary redundancies and increase the efficiency of state
agency efforts in conducting homeland security activities.
Sec. 411.562. GRANT AND REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAMS. (a)
Notwithstanding any other law establishing a grant or reimbursement
program administered by a state agency or local government related
to preparedness against terrorist or criminal threats or to border
security, the division shall, in collaboration with the governor,
set priorities and guidelines for the program, including priorities
for intended outcomes and guidelines for assessing the
effectiveness of the program.
(b) In setting the priorities and guidelines under
Subsection (a), the governor and division shall account for any
federal grant money secured and any accompanying restrictions or
requirements imposed by the federal agency awarding the grant.
Sec. 411.563. WEBSITE AND REPORTS. The division shall
maintain a publicly accessible Internet website and publish
assessments and other reports produced by the division that are not
excepted from disclosure under Section 552.021 and not
confidential.
SECTION 3. Section 421.024, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 421.024. DUTIES. The council shall, in collaboration
with the Homeland Security Division of the Department of Public
Safety, advise the governor on:
(1) the implementation of the governor's homeland
security strategy by state and local agencies and provide specific
suggestions for helping those agencies implement the strategy; and
(2) other matters related to the planning,
development, coordination, and implementation of initiatives to
promote the governor's homeland security strategy.
SECTION 4. Section 421.045, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 421.045. DUTIES. Each permanent special advisory
committee created under this subchapter shall, in collaboration
with the Homeland Security Division of the Department of Public
Safety, advise the governor on:
(1) the implementation of the governor's homeland
security strategy by state and local agencies and provide specific
suggestions for helping those agencies implement the strategy;
(2) specific priorities related to the governor's
homeland security strategy that the committee determines to be of
significant importance to the statewide security of critical
infrastructure; and
(3) other matters related to the planning,
development, coordination, and implementation of initiatives to
promote the governor's homeland security strategy.
SECTION 5. (a) In this section:
(1) "Department" means the Department of Public
Safety.
(2) "Transferring agency" means a state agency that is
required to transfer the management and operations of a center to
the department under Subsection (b)(2) of this section.
(b) As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
Act, the department shall:
(1) transfer the management and operations of the
Border Security Operations Center and the Joint Operations and
Intelligence Centers to the Texas Homeland Security Division in the
department; and
(2) enter into a written agreement with any other
state agency that, before the effective date of this Act, is
involved in the management or operations of the centers described
by Subdivision (1) of this subsection for the transfer of the
management and operations of those centers to the division,
including any land, facilities, equipment, and other property
involved in the operations of the centers.
(c) The written agreement required by Subsection (b)(2) of
this section must specify an effective date for the transfer.
(d) Any rules, policies, procedures, decisions, and forms
of a transferring agency that relate to the management or
operations of a center in effect on the effective date of the
transfer remain in effect until changed by the department.
(e) All money, contracts, leases, property, software source
code and documentation, records, and obligations of a transferring
agency that relate to the management or operations of a center are
transferred to the department on the effective date of the
transfer.
(f) The unexpended and unobligated balance of any money
appropriated by the legislature relating to a center transferred
under this Act is transferred to the department on the effective
date of the transfer of the center.
(g) A transferring agency shall provide the department with
access to any systems, facilities, or information necessary for the
department to accept the management and operations of a center
transferred under this Act.
(h) On the effective date of the transfer, all full-time
equivalent employee positions at the transferring agency that
concern the management or operations of a center being transferred
become positions at the department. The department shall post the
positions for hiring and, when filling the positions, shall give
consideration to, but is not required to hire, an applicant who,
immediately before the date of the transfer, was an employee at a
transferring agency.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.